Timberwolves reportedly trade Julius Randle to Nets in three-team deal

Minnesota did more than move a scorer. The Timberwolves used a three-team deal with Brooklyn and Chicago to clear Julius Randle’s $33.3 million cap hit, attach the No. 28 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft and, in return, get only the Nets’ No. 33 pick in the second round.

That is the chess move at the center of the trade. By sending out Randle without taking a player back, Minnesota was positioned to create a $33.3 million traded player exception, a meaningful piece of cap machinery for a team trying to preserve flexibility while reshaping its roster. The structure signals that the Timberwolves value optionality as much as they value present production, even after Randle’s strong run in the spring.

Brooklyn, meanwhile, was set to absorb the veteran forward and the added draft capital. The Nets would receive Randle and the 28th pick, but they also inherit the risk that comes with his contract and fit. Randle’s deal, a three-year, $100 million extension signed on June 29, 2025, runs through the 2027-28 season and carries a 2026-27 cap hit of $33,333,334. The question for Brooklyn is whether that package is an asset haul or a costly bet on a player who has already commanded major money.

Chicago’s role was different but just as important to the mechanics. The Bulls were slated to acquire Nic Claxton and, according to the reported framework, give up nothing while using cap room to take on the remaining two years of Claxton’s four-year, $97 million contract. Because Chicago is using cap room, the trade cannot be completed until after the NBA moratorium ends on July 6.

Randle brings real production to the discussion. The former No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft is a three-time All-Star, and his postseason numbers for Minnesota in 2024-25 were strong enough to underline why the salary dump matters: he averaged 25.2 points, 7.4 assists and 6.6 rebounds in the Western Conference semifinals against Golden State, then 17.4 points in the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City. His regular-season production was listed at 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in the 2025-26 context. That is the tension in this deal: Minnesota is shedding a productive player because the cap sheet matters, and Brooklyn is deciding whether that production is worth the risk.